– My work is related to my studies, although I am not working in the theatre. A sense dramatic structure is needed as an author and a journalist. Aristotle’s three-part view of plot structure, with a beginning, middle and end, featured heavily in theatre research. It is very basic, but not always easy to do in practice.

Although Viljami Puustinen wrote theatre and film reviews at university, he did not feel that it would lead to an inspiring profession. He preferred different kinds of journalism. For a while he was an assistant at the music magazine Rumba until he was chosen as the editor-in-chief.

– Working at Rumba was an interesting and hectic time. Five years on that merry-go-round was, however, enough for me. I noticed that I had become too old to spend every waking hour following what was going on in rock and pop music around the world. I was glad to make room for younger people and concentrate on my own writing.

To date, Puustinen has published three non-fiction books on rock music. The first of these, This is USA – Hellsinki rock&roll underground ’89–’99 (2000, Like), was about alternative rock musicians in 1990s Helsinki. The second book was the story of 22-Pistepirkko (2005, Like).

– For that book, I conducted in-depth interviews with the members of the group. While writing the book, my child was born and I was finishing my studies at the University. The publishing process became drawn out for a variety of reasons, so it was a real relief to finally see it released.

His latest book, Kingston Wall – Petri Wallin saaga, was published in 2014. In the book Puustinen sketches a portrait of the front man of the band, Petri Walli, through interviews with his friends and relatives and other members of the band. At the same time he captures the atmosphere of the rock scene in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s.

The challenge of the book on Kingston Wall was how to deal with the tragic death of its main character in 1995. It was also necessary to interview those people close to Walli who were not used to talking to journalists. Puustinen says that he utilized the teachings of the professor of religious studies Juha Pentikäinen in his interaction with the “informants” and in creating mutual trust.

– Academic interviews strive for authenticity and truth. They are also meant to recreate the context of a certain time from the surrounding people and places, which can then be used to colour the text. When the book was released, those who I had interviewed told me I had done justice to their stories. Above all else, veracity is what I learned at the University: you must aim for truth and reality.

• “Kingston Wall -kirjan kirjoittaja kertoo, kuinka vaikeaa oli selvittää, mikä edesmennyttä Petri Wallia oikein riivasi” (‘Author of the book Kingston Wall on how difficult it was to discover what was tormenting the late Petri Walli’), Rumba 2/2014
• “Viljami Puustinen Wallin viimeisestä päivästä: Petri Walli oli tehnyt paholaisen kanssa sopimuksen” (‘Viljami Puustinen on the last day of Walli: Petri Walli had made a deal with the Devil’), Radio Rock February 27, 2014
• “Njassan vieraana Kingston Wall – Petri Wallin saaga -kirjan kirjoittaja Viljami Puustinen” (‘Radio interview with Viljami Puustinen’), Radio Helsinki. February 25, 2014
• Profile of Viljami Puustinen on the website of Like Publishing.